Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail;
With him is Gratiano gone along;
And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not.
Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not.
Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not.
Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not
The villain Jew with outcries rais’d the Duke,
Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship.
The villain Jew with outcries rais’d the Duke, Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship.
The villain Jew with outcries rais’d the Duke, Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship.
The villain Jew with outcries rais’d the Duke, Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship
He came too late, the ship was under sail;
But there the Duke was given to understand
That in a gondola were seen together
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
Besides, Antonio certified the Duke
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
He came too late, the ship was under sail; But there the Duke was given to understand That in a gondola were seen together Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. Besides, Antonio certified the Duke They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
He came too late, the ship was under sail; But there the Duke was given to understand That in a gondola were seen together Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. Besides, Antonio certified the Duke They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
He came too late, the ship was under sail; But there the Duke was given to understand That in a gondola were seen together Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica Besides, Antonio certified the Duke They were not with Bassanio in his ship
The 'My daughter! O my ducats!' speech is one of the most contentious passages in Shakespeare. It is never spoken by Shylock — it is Solanio performing what he claims Shylock said in the streets. This matters because it means the audience can never be certain it's accurate. Solanio is a man who elsewhere calls Shylock 'the dog Jew' — he has no charitable impulse toward Shylock and every reason to emphasise the money-over-daughter reading. Productions choose: some play the quoted speech as a credible report (Shylock really did cry equally for both, revealing a grotesque equivalence); others play it as Solanio's caricature (Shylock was crying for his daughter, and the crowd — including Solanio — reduced it to a comedy about a Jew mourning his coins). Shakespeare's choice to keep Shylock offstage in this moment protects both readings.
I never heard a passion so confus’d,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets.
“My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!
Justice! the law! my ducats and my daughter!
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, stol’n from me by my daughter!
And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones,
Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! find the girl,
She hath the stones upon her and the ducats.”
I never heard a passion so confus’d, So strange, outrageous, and so variable As the dog Jew did utter in the streets. “My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice! the law! my ducats and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stol’n from me by my daughter! And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! find the girl, She has the stones upon her and the ducats.”
I never heard a passion so confus’d, So strange, outrageous, and so variable As the dog Jew did utter in the streets. “My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice! the law! my ducats and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stol’n from me by my daughter! And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! find the girl, She has the stones upon her and the ducats.”
I never heard a passion so confus’d, So strange, outrageous, and so variable As the dog Jew did utter in the streets “My daughter O my ducats O my daughter Fled with a Christian O my Christian ducats
Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats
Let good Antonio look he keep his day
Or he shall pay for this.
Let good Antonio look he keep his day Or he shall pay for this.
Let good Antonio look he keep his day Or he shall pay for this.
Let good Antonio look he keep his day Or he shall pay for this
Marry, well rememb’red.
I reason’d with a Frenchman yesterday,
Who told me, in the narrow seas that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A vessel of our country richly fraught.
I thought upon Antonio when he told me,
And wish’d in silence that it were not his.
Marry, well rememb’red. I reason’d with a Frenchman yesterday, Who told me, in the narrow seas that part The French and English, there miscarried A vessel of our country richly fraught. I thought upon Antonio when he told me, And wish’d in silence that it were not his.
Marry, well rememb’red. I reason’d with a Frenchman yesterday, Who told me, in the narrow seas that part The French and English, there miscarried A vessel of our country richly fraught. I thought upon Antonio when he told me, And wish’d in silence that it were not his.
Marry, well rememb’red I reason’d with a Frenchman yesterday, Who told me, in the narrow seas that part The French and English, there miscarried A vessel of our country richly fraught I thought upon Antonio when he told me, And wish’d in silence that it were not his
Salarino's account of the Antonio-Bassanio parting is the play's most intimate portrait of their bond. Antonio suppresses his grief, tells Bassanio to enjoy himself, urges him to forget the bond — and then, unable to maintain composure, turns away and reaches his hand back without looking. This is the body language of someone performing calm while incapable of it. 'I think he only loves the world for him' is Solanio's aside — and it's said as a simple observation, not a joke. Scholars have long debated whether the play frames this as homoerotic love, devoted male friendship, or something the text deliberately refuses to name. What's undeniable is that Shakespeare makes this parting the most emotionally charged moment in an otherwise brisk scene.
You were best to tell Antonio what you hear,
Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.
You were best to tell Antonio what you hear, Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.
You were best to tell Antonio what you hear, Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.
You were best to tell Antonio what you hear, Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him
A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part,
Bassanio told him he would make some speed
Of his return. He answered “Do not so,
Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio,
But stay the very riping of the time,
And for the Jew’s bond which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love:
Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts
To courtship, and such fair ostents of love
As shall conveniently become you there.”
And even there, his eye being big with tears,
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wondrous sensible
He wrung Bassanio’s hand, and so they parted.
A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. I saw Bassanio and Antonio part, Bassanio told him he would make some speed Of his return. He answered “Do not so, Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, But stay the very riping of the time, And for the Jew’s bond which he has of me, Let it not enter in your mind of love: Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts To courtship, and such fair ostents of love As shall conveniently become you there.” And even there, his I being big with tears, Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, And with affection wondrous sensible He wrung Bassanio’s hand, and so they parted.
A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. I saw Bassanio and Antonio part, Bassanio told him he would make some speed Of his return. He answered “Do not so, Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, But stay the very riping of the time, And for the Jew’s bond which he has of me, Let it not enter in your mind of love: Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts To courtship, and such fair ostents of love As shall conveniently become you there.” And even there, his I being big with tears, Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, And with affection wondrous sensible He wrung Bassanio’s hand, and so they parted.
A kinder gentleman treads not the earth I saw Bassanio and Antonio part, Bassanio told him he would make some speed Of his return He answered “Do not so, Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, But stay the very riping of the time, And for the Jew’s bond which he has of me, Let it not enter in your mind of love: Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts To courtship, and such fair ostents of love As shall conveniently become you there ” And even there, his I being big with tears, Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, And with affection wondrous sensible He wrung Bassanio’s hand, and so they parted
I think he only loves the world for him.
I pray thee, let us go and find him out
And quicken his embraced heaviness
With some delight or other.
I think he only loves the world for him. I pray you, let us go and find him out And quicken his embraced heaviness With some delight or other.
I think he only loves the world for him. I pray you, let us go and find him out And quicken his embraced heaviness With some delight or other.
I think he only loves the world for him I pray you, let us go and find him out And quicken his embraced heaviness With some delight or other
Do we so.
Do we so.
Do we so.
Do we so
The Reckoning
A scene that does three things quickly: confirms the elopement succeeded, delivers the most famous theatrical staging of Shylock's grief (reported, not shown), and plants the first concrete seed of Antonio's financial catastrophe. The 'My daughter! O my ducats!' speech — filtered through Solanio's contemptuous mimicry — is one of the play's most contested passages. Is it a caricature of Shylock as someone who equates his child with his money? Or is it Solanio's hostile ventriloquism of a man in agony, deliberately flattening Shylock's pain to amuse a Venetian street crowd?
If this happened today…
Two guys catch up the morning after a chaotic night. One saw the boat leave — the getaway worked. The other describes a video that went viral: the father running down the street screaming about his daughter and his cash in the same breath, half the neighbourhood's kids following him, laughing and filming. They both think it's funny. Then one of them says: 'By the way, there's a rumour a ship went down in the Channel. I'm pretty sure it was Antonio's.' And just like that it stops being funny.